San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, a staunch Republican who only recently became a supporter of gay marriage, took center stage at the Proposition 8 trial in San Francisco on Tuesday, telling the court that his lesbian daughter "

Prop. 8 lawyer Andrew Pugno told U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who's presiding over the case, that Sanders' remarks were "just irrelevant" and "emotional testimony about feelings" that have nothing to do with the legal questions involved in the lawsuit.

But Margaret Talbot of The New Yorker sees Sanders as an effective witness for the plaintiffs, who has "impeccable" conservative credentials but changed his previous anti-gay marriage stance because he felt it was the right thing to do.

And Associated Press reporter Lisa Leff writes that Sanders drew from his experiences in law enforcement -- the mayor was once the chief of police in San Diego -- to provide additional testimony about the role of gay parents.